Halyard lines are commonly known as the lines that are used to pull sails up a mast on a sailboat. At the end of a halyard line is a shackle that attaches to the sail. The line then runs to a pulley block at the masthead and comes back down alongside the mast. When the sail is up, the halyard is tied off tight to the mast cleat using a cleat hitch. Conventional halyards are made of high strength synthetic polymer fibers which lack memory but have the disadvantage of “creep,” whereby the material elongates under constant load.
All known line locking devices, commonly referred to as “halyard locks” are used to address line creep issues. Traditionally a halyard lock includes a hook that latches to a ball-like fitting on the halyard. The lock operates like a door latch when the tension is relieved on the lock the latch will open to release the line. Earlier halyard locks used a trip line that attached to the latch and was tensioned for releasing the line.
The principal of the Halyard style locks were adapted for use on outriggers commonly used on fishing vessels. Outriggers are defined as a pair of fiberglass, carbon fiber, or aluminum poles secured to the sides of a vessel for use in positioning fishing lines away from the vessel. Outriggers allow the fisherman to make a presentation in the water that would not otherwise be possible due to the width of the boat. For instance, a 30-foot boat, without outriggers, may have a 10 foot beam wherein fishing lines can only maintain a separate which equals the width of the boat. Placement of 15-foot outriggers on the same boat permits the placement of fishing lines at a distance of nearly 40 feet. On larger vessels the outriggers may be 40-feet and the width of the boat 20 feet wherein outboard fishing lines might be positioned 100 feet apart. By placement of fishing lines outside the width of the vessel, a greater “spread” of fishing lines and bait/lures are presented. The result is a greater opportunity to catch fish.
Outriggers are commonly formed of a tubular mast of modest diameter which is strengthened against bending or buckling by longitudinal cable truss systems that include spreader arms to stand off the cable from the mast to create a truss unit, as disclosed in Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,050. Fishing with outriggers is performed when a fishing vessel is driven slowly, commonly referred to as trolling, which permits the strategic placement of bait behind the vessel. Each outrigger includes at least one pulley with a line, commonly referred to as the halyard line. To strategically place bait, a quick release clip is attached to the outrigger halyard line to hold the fishing line dragging bait. An outrigger halyard line can hold multiple fishing lines in this manner, spaced at intervals outwards from the boat.
The wake generated by the vessel can appear to predator fish like a school of fish. Bait which appears to be struggling or separated from the school, or wake, are the most attractive to predator fish. If the bait is properly placed, the bait dragging on the fishing line will appear as struggling or separated fish. Once a fish strikes, the line is released so that it can be landed with the use of the traditional rod and reel. However, while dragging bait, the fishing line can pull on the outrigger's halyard line causing the previously mentioned line creep which decreases the chance of catching a fish. Line creep on the outrigger halyard line causes the release clips to move back towards the boat, which decreases the fishing territory and can result in tangled lines. The halyard line is used to position the release clip, and thus the fishing line, outboard of the vessel.
Braided nylon is the most popular line material for outriggers. The line has no memory and is easy to deal with when the poles are retracted or removed from the bases. Monofilament may also be used and works well with fixed-length poles that remain on the boat. Trolling with fishing lines attached to outriggers can strain the halyard line wherein the line can easily creep as the release clip attachment is known to work its way back to the vessel while fishing. The most common fix to stop line creep is by use of a halyard style line lock.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,342,115 to Lindstrom discloses a device at a cleat for a vessels in order to provide detachable locking of the line to a sail, a rig or the like, where the line runs over a sheave on an elevated level and having a cleat for locking the line situated at a distance from the deck of the boat. In the device, the line runs over a sheave, which is provided with ratchet back stop, and is arranged to co-operate with a movably actuatable mechanism, which activates the ratchet back stop.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,974,125 to Renton discloses a line-handling block for vessels having an attachment device rotatably mounted in the body. A locking device is slidably connected in keyhole slots and can slide into or out of engagement with the attachment device. When the locking device is engaged, only limited rotation of the attachment device to either side of a central position may be permitted.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,129,033 to Jarrell discloses a pulley or roller-type block with a locking arrangement. The locking arrangement can form a permanent weak spot in the line due to a highly concentrated clamping contact. At least a portion of a rolling unit is formed of resilient material, whereby the clamping contact on the line, as squeezed between the rolling unit and the clamping mechanism, is distributed by flexion of the roller unit resilient material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,023 to Muller discloses a pulley over which a rope moves with an eccentric cam which is pivotable to selectively clamp or release the rope against the pulley and a pivotable lever to which the cam is connected such that motion of the lever pivots the cam between its clamping and releasing position.
Accordingly, what is disclosed is a line positioning device that is used to prevent line creep in an outrigger fishing assembly. The line positioning device of the present invention overcomes the problems of the prior art by providing a simple locking pulley device which holds the line against a resilient bushing in a secure locked position. The locking lever can also provide quick visual confirmation of whether the device is in a locked position.